


Counterpoint

by dogmatix, norcumi



Series: A Supplemental Star to Steer By [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, GFY, Gen, Goa'uld Jedi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 08:38:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5620486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dogmatix/pseuds/dogmatix, https://archiveofourown.org/users/norcumi/pseuds/norcumi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A rescue mission to Kiros goes bad, and Echo has to make some choices to save two young Jedi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Counterpoint

There were days when Echo wanted to find whatever idiot had signed off on Fives being Skywalker’s host, and then bludgeon them with a hardcopy text of regulations. Hardcopy, with the regulations that Skywalker and Fives had broken highlighted. If he was merciful, he’d shoot the bureaucrat afterwards.

If he was not, then he’d let the two grinning idiots explain to the bureaucratic nitwit why it was perfectly fine and made total sense at the time, for each and every instance of every single regulation. Last-minute rescue missions included.

Echo loved his batchmate, he really did. Same for the General. But Skywalker was the only combat-ready Jedi in the area, and he was charging back _into_ a building under active Separatist bombardment. For backup, Skywalker had Echo and Rex, which meant a single ARC trooper – Skywalker’s gods damned alternate for hosting – and the company commander. This wasn’t just non-regulation. This was fucking _stupid_.

Echo winced as another blast from an ion cannon sizzled down on the Kiros Temple’s roof. Rex glared up at the ceiling as more fragments crumbled down, and the General stood with his head tilted to the side, eyes narrowed in concentration.

Also, the General had once again managed to ditch his helmet. One of these days Echo was going to glue the damn thing on.

“There! End of the corridor, off to the left!” General Skywalker didn’t just shout it, he took off before he finished talking, so Rex and Echo had to haul along in his wake.

The Kiros Temple was a lovely building, bright and airy and with outer walls that were mostly Force-bedamned _windows_. Translation: the three of them had a trail of blasterfire spitting at their heels, sending masonry and mosaic tiles up to shatter against their kamas. From the sound of it, the snipers had plenty of 501 st fire to deal with, but droids had almost no survival instinct and the 501st’s chain of command was lined up for them, neat as targets at a shooting range.

 _Jesse will find some way to bitch us out in the afterlife if he’s suddenly the ranking officer._ That was a cheerful thought. Man was a fantastic lieutenant, but he wasn’t shy about how the notion of taking command made him break out in hives. Echo hoped it was meant metaphorically, but things like that were Rex’s problem, not his.

They made it to the hallway junction, diving past some large rubble that should have been part of the wall. They took a moment to reorient. Corridors went left, right, straight ahead. Walls had gone down to block straight ahead and some to the left. Lots of spare rubble to the right.

“How far?” Rex snapped, taking a few potshots at some magnaguards that were still firing back.

“Halfway down the Temple at least! We’re in for a jog!”

Before they could make a break for it, a shrill whirring noise screamed out of the right corridor, followed by the rumble of a droideka. Echo kept low, ducking around the corner to start firing at the rollie. He could hear displaced air behind and above him, along with Rex’s snarl as Skywalker used the Force to send him over the oncoming droid. By the time the rollie stopped to fire back at Echo, Skywalker was stepping forward, lightsaber bouncing bolts back and around the corridor.

Rex, crouched behind the rollie, eased past the energy shield and put a few more blaster bolts through the droid’s processors than was really necessary. Echo sympathized: Fives enjoyed the flying backup trick far more than anyone else around him with the possible exception of someone named _Skywalker_.

In the meantime, a mouse droid had nearly slammed into a piece of rubble by Echo. He did a double take at the slim form wrapped around a control stick. It was a Jedi, a young Jedi judging by the size. Padawan age, maybe. Orange body, bright green eyes that met his fearlessly even as it was opening its mouth to squeak at high speed, and pale fins waving about frantically.

The General, wide-eyed, extinguished his lightsaber and crouched down before the youngling, while Rex took up guard at the end of the corridor. “Whoa, slow down, little one, I can’t–” Skywalker shook his head, looking incredibly frustrated. “Slow down, please!”

Echo was willing to swear the youngling flopped back a little in a full-body attempt to roll its eyes, which was a gesture he was more than familiar with. Bucket rather than biological limitations, but he knew that feeling well. The youngling reared up, articulating shrill chirps and squeaks that had Skywalker standing quickly.

“ _Shit_. She has a trapped friend. She’s further down, but that’s away from the–”

“Keep going, I'll get the Jedi!” Echo barked, running down the corridor towards Rex. A quick glance from the Captain to Skywalker, a hand gesture, and they swapped places. The mouse droid buzzed down the hall after Echo at high speed.

Rex was a brilliant commander, and yes, the man _had_ taught Echo and Fives a hell of a lot back in the day. Echo had also been through ARC training since then, and he had several more months experience than Rex at being Anakin’s backup. With luck, Echo could find the trapped youngling – shit, was it a youngling? Force take it, he’d have to play guessing games to find out, but not right now; battle droids were starting to crop up to make his life difficult.

Rex was good. Echo was better, at least when it came to a solo rescue mission. The Captain’s skillset was best when in conjunction with someone else. The General and Rex could get the damn stubborn local Togruta out of the building before it came down around their montrals, and all Echo had to do was help a trapped youngling.

He was not expecting to find another mostly collapsed wall. Force or fortune, two pieces of the collapsed wall were propped against each other, almost at a right angle. Peeking out from under that space was a tiny form, white with streaks of subdued moss-green developing. The youngling was half curled up in a tiny squeaking pile, small as it could go.

It was obvious that the little Jedi was pinned. The orange Jedi remained on her perch, squeaking something while sending looks towards her friend. Worried looks? Encouraging advice? Who knew. Echo slung his DC back and studied the pile of rocks. Didn’t take a genius or an architect to see that there was no way the two Jedi would be able to free the green youngling. Impossible for them, but not difficult, for a human.

He took the spare second to make sure his feet wouldn’t be in the trapped youngling’s way. It let out a pitiful squeal, a shrill, _painful_ sound as he caught the rocks near its body and braced himself. Echo could feel the full weight of the rubble settling, and put his back into it.

Another set of cannon blasts rocked the Temple, just more in the barrage they’d been getting the entire damned time they’d been in the building. Clumps of masonry started to slide off the pile Echo was holding up.

There was a flash of orange as the first youngling darted in, curling around her friend. He couldn’t tell if she twisted, mercilessly pulled, or if it was a tiny use of the Force, but whatever it was, the younglings tumbled away from the incoming rockslide with only a few pieces of rubble slamming into them.

Echo stumbled back, taking a several blows along the legs and grimacing at the few that were going to leave some serious bruising even through the armor. He managed to not stumble over the younglings, but the abandoned mouse droid got crushed in the mess.

For a moment, it was only the sound of his breathing in the bucket, the rumble of more artillery, and the pained rhythmic squeaking from the younger Jedi.

“You all right?”

The chirrup from the orange Jedi sounded agreeing, though there was a bit of a mournful tone. Echo moved over to carefully pick them up. He was pretty sure he kept his wince subtle enough that they wouldn’t notice. The orange Jedi looked bruised and dusty. The one that was coming in green was bleeding, the tail bashed up in a way he did not like at all.

Force take it, he didn’t think any of his bacta patches would fit the poor thing.

The orange Jedi’s fins flared out, her fangs spreading with a chilling hiss as she glared behind him. Echo didn’t wait; he took off running. Arms full of Jedi, he couldn’t shoot at whatever it was and he trusted the youngling not to fuck with him, not at a time like this.

Blaster fire just missed him, which was a good sign that running was a good idea. “Guide me!” he yelled, wishing once again that he’d had time to study the Temple’s floor plans. Force take it, he was only one ARC and he had to ride herd on _Fives_ , nevermind Skywalker, and there was only so much he and Rex could do and they shouldn’t have been in the Temple in the first place! It was supposed to have been evacuated well before they were even in the system, but nooo, the locals thought it was a holy, _respected_ place and the Seps would never _dare_ blah blah–

A lucky shot skimmed underneath his right pauldron, the blow sending him forward in a drunken stagger. He turned it into a roll, diving around a corner while cradling the baby Jedi. _Fuck!_ Oh, fuck, this wasn’t going to work. Right arm mostly incapacitated, couldn’t carry the Jedi anyways – Fuck.

Like fuck he was leaving two younglings to whatever fucked up fate – no, he was stopping that nightmare thought right there. The orange youngling squeaked, looking up at him with body language that screamed concern, but she wasn’t quailing. Brave little thing.

He could hear more rollies coming in. Damn it.

Wait. Wait wait wait. He glanced back down. Her fins were light, but there were threads of blue-gray along them. She wasn’t _that_ immature, not with that coloring. “Don’t suppose you know anything about taking a host?”

The Jedi’s fins flared wide in surprise, then a ripple ran down her length as she did her level best to straighten to attention. Great. He probably had more training than she did. Still. Better than nothing. Echo popped his helmet off, leaning back so the orange Jedi could move towards his face as he fumbled the snaps open on the spare ammo pouch on his chestplate. Should be big enough for the injured Jedi. Not good for it, but better than jouncing along trying to cling to his arm. By the time he had the cartridges out and the Jedi partway in, the orange Jedi was at his open mouth. She slid in quickly, movements a little rough to the point where he gagged a bit. That cleared out fast enough, and he snapped the pouch closed around the far too quiet Jedi.

# _Oh._ #

Gods, the voice was young. Confident, serene with a touch of impetuous fire hidden underneath. Sweet, clear, and bold. Echo secured his bucket again. # _Ready?_ #

# _I was born ready,_ # she replied with a touch of cockiness that made him want to despair. Gods damned Jedi. He suppressed a sigh; after Skywalker, he’d become resigned to mad Jedi who liked throwing themselves fangs-first into the nearest firefight on a regular basis. It wasn’t like Kenobi was any better, he was just quieter about it.

# _On your mark, Commander._ # Best remind her of the rank, the _responsibility_ she had now. Young, so gods damned young, what the hells was this war doing to them all? If she had any training, at least, he could override anything truly stupid.

# _Mark,_ # she growled. Then his body tensed and sprang to its feet, pelting down the corridor at speeds no human could manage. They almost flew down the hallway, bounding around rubble like it was a simple child’s game. The droidekas behind them couldn’t even track them at first, not calibrated for a host instead of a clone. The droids recovered by the time Echo was around the corner, but that meant they had to coil up and roll after them.

To his shock, the Jedi leapt to the far wall, almost clinging to it for a moment before dropping lightly to their feet. She frowned behind them, left hand back as if she had a grenade. She braced herself, hand twitching a little as the first rollie rounded the corner. Before it could do more than stop, the second and third hurtled into position behind it. The Jedi shoved her palm forward with a shrill cry, something near a snarl, and he could feel that warmth behind his eyes. The air rippled as the Force carried a shockwave into the droideka, smashing it into the others and right into the far wall.

Thankfully, they were scrap, because the youngling staggered forward another step with a sharp yelp. # _Oh, gods! Other arm! Ow! Arms are weird!_ # Before he could do anything, the youngling was biting their lower lip and holding a hand to their injured shoulder. The Force healing was tentative, almost stumbling.

# _First time healing?_ #

# _No,_ # she grumped, the healing efforts steadying out just a tiny bit. Echo let the silence sit, projecting polite disbelief and patience. When their arm was serviceable, if not really _better_ , she sighed. # _Second._ # The admission was grudging, but it existed without any bitterness.

# _Nice work_ ,# he said, flexing the hand and checking safe range of motion. # _Time for your third._ #

# _What? But I just – Oh!_ # She yelped as he opened up the pouch, and it was a bit of a juggle as he ceded control and she tried to reach out with the one good hand and they really would need to work on their coordination. # _Oh, Barriss!_ #

They would also _really_ have to work on that lip biting thing, because no, he was not putting up with that –

Echo was glad he’d had host-training, including how to partition his thoughts. He was keeping his thoughts in a private corner, so she wasn’t picking up on his bewildered shock at himself, let alone his objection to her funny habits. ‘In the long term?’ He could not be planning for the long term. His job was to get the two Jedi out of the damned crumbling Temple, back up his General if at all possible, and fall back to the Larties.

He was Fives’ backup, that was his job. Yes, yes, he trusted Rex to host if Echo got himself dead or otherwise unavailable, but Echo couldn't just abandon his post like this to go jaunting off with a half-trained padawan.

It wasn't right. This wasn’t how one became a host. You couldn’t just waltz in and claim a Jedi like some spare blaster off the rack. He tried not to fret, or panic – not that he _was_ panicking, but it was looking mighty attractive. He could not be picking up random Jedi and taking them home.

“There,” the Jedi murmured, carefully closing the pouch. # _I think she’s stable. I – healing isn’t exactly my speciality._ #

# _It’s all right, I’m used to Jedi who specialize in breaking things._ # His mental voice sounded steady enough. He was probably okay on that front. Echo pushed the intel on the Larties, the landing zone, and the current plan to the Jedi. She took two steps, then stumbled.

# _Skywalker? Anakin SKYWALKER is here?_ #

Oh gods. No no no no. He was not putting up with that kind of youthful hero-worship. Fuck everything, no matter who the little Jedi ended up with, he had to nip that in the bud immediately. Echo shoved more images at her, ranging from the most recent sequence of missing helmet moments to that time when there was something insanely strange going on with Senator Amidala that Fives had yet to explain, but it had included traditional Tatooine wear and a speeder bet.

There was an odd silence, both inside and out. Then the Jedi sighed as more artillery fire sounded. # _I was hoping I had the wrong impression, given how crazy things were._ #

# _No, that’s the General. Deadly, bit of a goof, but a good being. But we can discuss that later._ #

She nodded and turned to sprint at that glorious, impossible speed down the hall. # _Right. Let’s get out of here._ #

* * *

The youngling couldn’t keep up the pace the entire way back to the landing site, but she was sneaky and had good reflexes. She didn’t mind Echo taking control to shoot down some droids on the way, and the fact that she had a quiet admiration for his skills was...nice. Problematic, but nice.

Popping out of the temple into bright sunlight, Echo heard the Larties before he saw them. Five of the atmospheric troop transports were descending rapidly, doors already open to show a skeleton crew of brothers ready to help the refugees on board. Good, that meant the General must have completed his objective. Ducking behind a piece of rubble as the Force vibrated with the possibility-signature of an incoming blaster bolt, Echo heard the General's voice. He couldn't make out words, but from the tone and volume, it was clear Anakin was moving people along. Echo popped out from behind cover and ran for the nearest Lartie, and yes, Jesse looked far too relieved to see them. A group of Togruta were ahead and to the side of Echo, having come out of another area of the temple and approaching the Larties at an oblique angle to him. The General was at their head, carrying one of the local Togruta in both arms, an old man who looked to be injured in the leg.

“Trouble’s right behind us!” Skywalker called out, and every brother on the transports turned their blasters to face the new threat.

Echo had the situation in a glance. The General's inclination to lead from the front was biting him in the ass now - Anakin couldn't get behind the group of refugees, not without dropping the Togruta he was carrying. From his young Jedi, Echo got the information that the old Togruta was respected and revered. Probably the village leader or elder or head artist or whatever they had around here. Would be hugely demoralizing if he died. Also, these were not trained soldiers - if they lost the General as a point to follow, they might panic and scatter. No, Anakin was stuck where he was. Rex wasn’t in sight, but there was blaster fire – he had to be at the rear.

“General!” Echo roared, and Anakin's focus shifted to him. “Lightsaber!”

Thank the Force, there wasn’t any hesitation. Skywalker's lightsaber detatched from his belt - familiar objects were easier to move in the Force, and Anakin was certainly familiar with his lightsaber - and flew towards Echo in an awkward arc, probably trusting that if Echo was making a demand, there was a reason and it didn’t depend on a decent throw.

Echo’s Jedi broke into a run, reaching out Echo's good hand and pulling the lightsaber to her. It smacked into their palm way too hard, but she only grimaced as she veered around the group, pouring on the speed. A quick flourish as the weapon ignited, and then the Jedi was skidding around the last Togruta. She came to a halt near Rex, who did a beautiful double take even as he shot down at least two more clankers.

“Keep moving!” the Jedi growled, missing the first few bolts flying their way, past them into the crowd of Togruta. The Jedi tried not to let the deaths flickering in the Force affect her, but Echo could feel her grief and confusion. She shoved the emotions down and away, letting out a frustrated sound and reversing their grip on the weapon. Something seemed to click, and now she was blocking more shots than she missed, at least.

Echo kept track of the situation as they retreated, Rex a few steps behind them and still firing away. Echo and the Jedi moved smoothly, from one stance to another like it was the most simple kata he could recall. Oh, he could get used to this. The world was almost lazy in how slow it moved, blaster bolts easy to predict. It was the Jedi's first active combat, but with Echo’s instincts bordering on advice, they were keeping things from being a rout.

# _Up,_ # he had to call as they reached the Lartie. She stumbled over the step anyways, flailing then yelping as some helping hands caught their injured shoulder. The world grayed out as the Jedi dropped the lightsaber, and it was Echo who managed to not faceplant as the shuttle lifted off.

# _...ow. Oh, this is harder than anyone said._ #

Echo muzzily agreed as Kix started cursing him out, med kit open and bacta patches on the ready.

“Shuddup,” Echo managed to slur. At the look the medic gave him, Echo brute-forced a weak smile. “Younglings.” He managed to roll to his uninjured side even as the gray won and he went unconscious.

* * *

It was the first time Echo had woken up in medical without feeling like a rancor had used him as a chew toy. He had to stop and think about that for a moment, then he carefully rolled his shoulder.

Bacta. Wonder of the worlds.

Then he went still, as a presence – not quite shy, really – quietly coughed in the back of his mind. # _I, ah, tried to help out. Master Skywalker was enthusiastic._ #

# _He’s always enthusiastic. Are we in the clear?_ #

# _Yeah. He also said I ought to introduce myself. I’m Ahsoka, Ahsoka Tano._ #

# _Echo, though I suspect you already knew that._ #

# _Yeah, but it's nice to be formally introduced, even if it's AFTER you've been hosting me most of a day,_ # Ahsoka teased.

Echo grinned and shook his head. # _I plead extenuating circumstances. And what about your friend, she all right?_ #

# _Barris?_ # He could feel her pleased surprise that he had genuine concern for the youngling. # _Yes, thank you. And thanks TO you._ # They had a pleasant moment of silence, then Ahsoka somehow sent the impression of awkward shifting. # _I– Master Skywalker said he wouldn’t be against taking on a Padawan Learner._ #

Oh sweet Force gods. He wasn’t against that, not really, not aside from the matter of bringing a baby not too long outside the crèche to _war_. It was just that yet another Jedi on the battlefield would make logistics maddening.

Well. And the other thing. But that was his problem, and not the Jedi’s. Ahsoka’s.

Fuck, it was probably too late already.

# _We’ll be glad to have the help._ #

The silence somehow got heavy. # _The files for my Host Search are probably still back at the Temple. I – I only cleared the qualifications last week._ #

On the one hand, he wanted to applaud her skill and willingness to assist the galaxy as a whole. On the other, he wanted to facepalm until his face matched his armor. Skywalker had to know. Hells, _Fives_ should know better, so that meant Skywalker knew. Probably. Gods, she really was just a baby. _Says a lot that she hasn’t picked up on that flattering little thought, idiot. Either she’s got more tact than most beings, or she IS leaving the partition alone._

He made sure that his...“problem” remained firmly in the private corner, though. # _So they’ll be sending you back to Coruscant first?_ #

# _I– I was rather hoping that– I mean, you’re an ARC, and we work very well together, and–_ #

“Oooh, no.” Echo sat up, not caring that it was rather moot. “No, youngling, just stop right there!”

# _Host Fives said–_ #

Host Fives needed to shut the fuck up. # _Ahsoka, listen. The Search is done for a reason, for GOOD reasons! You– It wouldn’t be right, me just waltzing in and–_ #

# _I’m asking if you’d like to host me?_ # The question was quiet, a touch hopeful and– oh, gods, why did it have to be the same kind of _longing_ he was trying so resolutely to ignore?

Echo buried his face in his hands. # _Ahsoka, that’s why you want the Search. To– to see how others feel, if someone suits you better. It’s not RIGHT. It’s not fair to you._ #

For a moment, she was quiet, and Echo hoped he’d made it through to her. # _To me. But not to you?_ # When he didn’t answer – couldn’t answer – Tano spoke again. # _Echo? Please? I’d like to understand._ #

Sith take it. If he was going to screw this up, he might as well do it all the way. Echo removed the partition, opening up his mind to the Jedi. He wasn’t... _jealous_ of Fives. Not exactly. It was just that he saw how his brother was, how Fives fit so damn well with Anakin that they made it work so fantastically. They were right for each other, and how could you be jealous of that?

It was difficult to articulate his emotions. A large part of it was a longing for something like what Fives had with Anakin. Echo didn’t kid himself, the chances of his name coming up as a candidate a second time were slim at best – there were dozens, if not hundreds, of ARC troopers per Jedi, and that wasn’t even counting non-clone volunteers. Nor did Echo want to go back into stasis without Fives. For one, there was a war on, and he wasn’t about to leave his batchbrother to face that alone. For another, it might be decades before Echo got out of stasis again, perhaps longer. Echo and Fives had always done things in lockstep. One of them – either of them – simply _outliving_ the other was... Well, it wasn’t something Echo liked to think about. At all.

Echo sucked in a startled breath at the sensation of a hug. Fives had talked about this, but Skywalker was bigger than life in so many ways. This wasn’t like that. This was comforting, someone smaller than him, but willing and able to hold on tight. It was...nice, being the one held without that sense of being...

Not less. He knew that. But an echo wasn’t the same as the actual sound, was it.

# _That’s dumb._ # Only the young could sound so certain, but she made him want to believe it.

# _That’s nice of you to say._ #

She also managed to communicate a light thwap upside the head, which Echo was fairly certain neither Fives nor Skywalker had managed. Then he went still, breathing out a soft, awed whisper as she returned the trust, letting him see into her mind.

Oooh. So that was how Jedi saw the world before they were hosted. Impressions of color and movements in the air and warmth and the _Force._ The feel of others. Swimming, breathing the water and twining about friends and playmates. Memories of other things, of limbs not fins and lightsabers and _stars_.

A longing for more. Ahsoka was fierce, where so many in this Temple in the boonies were content with their quiet, peaceful life. Many of them left the crèche and went straight into the Agricorps, or the Medicorps. Even Ahsoka’s closest friend didn’t understand, for all that she supported Ahsoka anyway.

Echo could see a clone being a very good match for that fire though.

It was probably not considered a good idea, poking around the corners of each other’s minds while stuck in Medical. They spent the quiet hours of the night shift sharing moments, bright vivid memories lived and relived together. It wasn’t against the rules. Echo knew that. It most certainly wasn’t recommended, which they both knew well enough.

By the time the morning shift began moving through the med bay, seeing to the injured, they’d decided. If nothing else, the look on Skywalker’s face when they agreed was fucking brilliant. Fives’ expression of relieved delight was even better.


End file.
